November 08, 2011

German high-rise named best tall building for 2011; Gehry's 8 Spruce Street, Smith also recognized

An energy-efficient Frankfurt, Germany high-rise called KfW Westarkade (left) has been named the best tall building for 2011 by the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.

At an event last week, the council also honored Frank Gehry's 8 Spruce Street as the best tower in the Americas and recognized Chicago architect Adrian Smith, whose credits include Chicago's Trump and NBC towers as well as the world's tallest Burj Khalifa in Dubai, with a lifetime achievement award.

(Photo by Jan Bitter, from Greensource magazine Web site)

Here's the full news release:

Chicago – November 7, 2011

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) has announced KfW Westarkade (Frankfurt, Germany) by Sauerbruch Hutton architects as the 2011 Overall “Best Tall Building Worldwide” at its 10th Annual Awards Ceremony.

“As we design for a sustainable future, we desperately need a new definition of beauty that goes beyond skin deep,” said 2011 CTBUH Awards Chair, Rick Cook of Cook+Fox Architects of the building. “Already being touted as one of the most energy-efficient office buildings in the world, KfW Westarkade stands out as a shining example of a truly environmentally-responsible project. The building has been carefully integrated into its context, forming relationships with its neighboring buildings, streets and parkland, while simultaneously standing out through the playful use of color. Whereas many buildings use color as a way to mask an otherwise unremarkable building, here it contributes an additional rich layer to what is already a remarkable building. Germany already has a strong reputation for achieving natural ventilation in tall office buildings, and Westarkade can now be added most positively to that list.”

Accepting the award on behalf of the KfW Westarkade project team was Axel Hinterthan from building owner KfW Bankengruppe. Joining Axel on stage to collect the award were the project’s architects Matthias Sauerbruch and Louisa Hutton of Sauerbruch Hutton.

The Council issues four regional Best Tall Building Awards annually to give recognition to projects that have made extraordinary contributions to the advancement of tall buildings and the urban environment, and that achieve sustainability at the highest and broadest level. The KfW Westarkade project was also recognized as the Best Tall Building in the Europe region. Also recognized at the ceremony were: Eight Spruce Street, New York which took the Best Tall Building Americas award, Guangzhou International Finance Center, Guangzhou took the Best Tall Building Asia & Australasia award, and The Index, Dubai took the Best Tall Building Middle East & Africa award.

“2011 has been an exceptional year for tall buildings,” said CTBUH Executive Director and 2011 Awards Juror Antony Wood. “For probably the first time any of the four regional winners could easily have taken the Overall award and there was intense debate on the jury regarding the elegant simplicity of Guangzhou International Finance Center, the sustainable strategies of The Index, and the sublime organic skin of Eight Spruce Street. In the end, however, we felt that KfW Westarkade had it all, including a clever stitching together of the urban habitat.”

Also honored on the evening were the Council’s two 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award winners: Adrian Smith of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture won the Lynn S. Beedle Lifetime Achievement Award, recognized for his 40 years of designing supertall buildings including the current World’s Tallest, Burj Khalifa, Dubai. Dr. Akira Wada was awarded the Fazlur R. Khan Lifetime Achievement Medal for his extensive impact on tall building design around the world, especially in the field of seismic design. Also recognized at the ceremony were the Council’s 2011 Fellows: Ron Klemencic of Magnusson Klemencic Associates, Brett Taylor of Bornhorst & Ward, and John Zils of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

Held on Thursday November 3rd in Mies van der Rohe’s iconic Crown Hall on the Illinois Institute of Technology campus, The Awards Ceremony & Dinner was attended by an international audience of 320 tall building professionals from around the world. For the second year, the Ceremony was preceded by an afternoon’s Symposium with over 600 delegates attending to hear presentations from all the award winners. All of the 2011 Award Winners, Finalists and Nominees are published in the 2011 Awards Book, featuring building profiles with images, detailed drawings and plans, and an in-depth account of the building’s design. Further information can be accessed at the CTBUH Webshop.

Posted at 08:27:29 AM

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